Tigers Set To Open Season With New Faces
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College men’s basketball team opens the 2016-17 season with nearly a complete overhaul.
The Tigers finished atop the SIAC East Division a year ago, but were knocked out of the SIAC Tournament by LeMoyne-Owen in their first game of the tournament and finished 16-12 overall. Other schools might look at that as a successful season, but Benedict head coach Fred Watson, with five SIAC championships, has higher aspirations.
So Watson set out to upgrade the Tigers, and believes he has succeeded. Benedict will have 13 new faces on the 15-man roster when they tip off the season on Tuesday night against Johnson C. Smith University.
“We definitely got a new team with 13 new guys,” Watson said. “It’s always a struggle when you’ve got a new group of guys trying to implement your philosophy. It’s been a great challenge. We upgraded our talent. We’re excited about the season. I think the guys are anxious about the season.”
The Tigers have a pair of high-profile transfers in Brandon Morrisand Derrick Millinghaus. Morris started 45 games over two seasons at the University of Georgia, averaging 6.3 points and 2.8 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Millinghaus played in 63 games with 14 starts at the University of Mississippi from 2013-15.
“I think the guys to watch are Brandon Morris and Derrick Millinghaus and probably Michael Udume,” Watson said. Udume transferred from Division II Midwestern State University, where he helped the Mustangs finish 20th in the country last year.
“Brandon Morris is a 6-8 guy who played the perimeter at Georgia,” Watson said. “We’re going to convert him to a power forward in our league. He should be able to do some really good things from that spot and still step out on the perimeter and do the things he can normally do.”
To take over the point guard duties of Brennan Reynard, who graduated after a standout career with 1,174 points and 481 career assists, the Tigers brought in Millinghaus, who averaged 6.6 points and 2.3 assists for the Ole Miss Rebels two years ago.
“We were fortunate to land Derrick Millinghaus,” Watson said.
Watson also wanted to get bigger and stronger, and the Tigers have added 6-6 junior forward Keon Scott, 6-9 junior center Farouk Brimah and 6-7 redshirt freshman center Umar Frost.
“Not only are we longer and bigger, we’re more athletic at those positions,” Watson said. “We upgraded everything we wanted to do as far as size-wise and talent-wise. That was a huge upgrade to our team. That was an area we struggled with last year was rebounding and being able to defend in the post with toughness.”
Watson said Scott will be a tough matchup for opposing teams in the SIAC.
“I liken him to a Marcus Goode, talent-wise,” Watson said, comparing him to the former Benedict All-American. “He’s not as big as Marcus, but he’s got the same hands, footwork and size girth-wise, he just doesn’t have the height. He’s an undersized post, about 6-6, who’s going to be dominate in this league and be a matchup problem. He can shoot the three, handle the ball and post you up.”
Watson’s offensive philosophy is predicated on having a potent outside shooting attack, and he thinks the Tigers should be improved there as well.
“I like guys on the perimeter who can shoot the ball,” Watson said. “So we’re always trying to identify guys who can shoot the ball and we definitely did that. Mike (Udume) can really stroke it, transferring from Midwestern, coming from a winning culture, he knows how to sacrifice to win. Jaylin Gilbert should be one of the better shooters in our conference. We have a freshman in Rodney Prichard who can really shoot the ball. So shooting won’t be a problem for us. We definitely got a multitude of guys who can shoot the ball. Justice Morgan, who transferred from another winning program at Lenoir-Rhyne, who can shoot the ball at the point, which gives us a different dimension.”
The two holdovers from last season are sophomore guard Tyoun Shuford, who saw action in just 11 games, and senior Christopher Spencer, who averaged 7.1 points per game last season. With so many new faces, Spencer is being looked upon for senior leadership.
“We just wanted to make sure it was his team to lead. He understands my philosophy and what I expect and he’s trying to get those guys in the right spots and doing the right thing each and every day,” Watson said. “He’s been a great asset for us in leading the troops. He’s done a great job of being a second coach on the floor. He’s going to do some really good things for us from a leadership standpoint.”
Now it is time to see if all the new pieces can mesh into a winning season.
“What I thought we did was upgraded shooting at the point, upgraded size and skill at the perimeter and maintained our defensive focus,” Watson said. “I think we’re better, but we still have to go out and play the games.”
